


So Tired

by Singing_Violin



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, F/M, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 02:31:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4330434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Singing_Violin/pseuds/Singing_Violin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Long hours are driving our favorite agents to the brink of tears...or perhaps insanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Tired

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The X-Files characters and universe are not mine.

It was an offhand remark. "God, I'm so tired I could cry."

Who knows what possessed him to respond as he did, and perhaps even the gifted profiler in him did not understand his own intent. "Go ahead, Scully. My shoulder's free."

On another day, perhaps, he would have waggled his eyebrows suggestively, letting her know that he was being as flippant as she, giving her permission to brush him off. On another day, perhaps, she would have laughed at that and smiled warmly at her partner who always seemed to be able to make light, even of the darkness.

But today, of all days, he forgot to embellish, or perhaps he just didn't have the heart...or maybe, just maybe, he was tired too: too tired to hide with humor his true feelings for the woman who had worked by his side for years. So today, of all days, she took his statement seriously. She surprised herself as much as she did him when she looked up at him with tears brimming in her eyes.

His mouth hung agape as her face screwed up and she moved towards him, stopping only when her head rested upon his chest. Without conscious thought, his arms went around her, and she began to sob quietly into his shirt.

For a long moment, she became his entire universe: he was unaware of their surroundings or even how they got into that position. Finally, though, an echo of her original statement entered distantly into his mind: _so tired_. With the remaining thread of logic he had left, he gently inched them towards the nearest chair and sank into it, gathering her into his lap.

She seemed to burrow into him as she gradually relaxed, and after another long moment, he realized she'd stopped sobbing.

Tilting his head, he looked down upon her and observed that her eyes were closed: she was asleep. Stroking her back, he allowed his own exhaustion to overwhelm him and soon, he too drifted into blissful unconsciousness.

He was startled awake by his partner's voice. "Seems like you're even more tired than I am."

His eyes burst open, and the first thing of which he was aware was the emptiness in his arms. She was looming over him, smiling with amusement.

"Scully?" he asked, still becoming aware of his surroundings. "What...?"

She rolled her eyes as she patted his shoulder. "You fell asleep, Mulder. I think this case has taken a lot out of both of us. What do you say we go home and regroup in the morning?"

"Uh, yeah," he managed, coughing the sleep out of his voice. "I'll see you in the morning, Scully."

"See you in the morning, Mulder," she replied gently, then moved to exit the office, leaving him still in his chair, and still slightly disoriented. He had no idea when he had fallen asleep or how much of what he remembered had actually occurred and how much was a complete fabrication of his subconscious mind, and if so, what it might reveal about his secret desires.

He sighed, contemplating filing an X-File on the matter before he left, but his utter fatigue won out. As he awkwardly stood in preparation to leave the office for the day, he felt a familiar stinging sensation around the edges of his eyes. "God," he muttered to himself, "I'm so tired I could cry."

It was then that he noticed Scully was still looming in the doorway, studying him intently. The tone of her reply was enigmatic, "Go ahead, Mulder. My shoulder is free."


End file.
